Can you name this 1970s sci-fi novel?
March 5, 2011 12:23 PM Subscribe
BookFilter: Help me find this formative (but possibly terrible) 1970s sci-fi book I read in my youth!
Way back in the day, my grandma had a bunch of science fiction books she'd bought with the cover ripped off at the local drug store. I don't know the title of this book, and I'm not sure I ever did. I read it when I was 8 or 9, and thus much of what I remember is vague. It seemed pretty awesome at the time - but I was 8, so what did I know? I would like to read it again and see what I think of it now.
Basic plot: residents of Earth (I'm pretty sure it's Earth and not just an Earth-like planet) have a very primitive lifestyle - and I THINK they live in caves. This could be either post-apocalyptic or pre-historic; not sure which.
A comet swings by Earth; the residents are humanoids but super-advanced space explorers - possibly originally from Earth.
If I recall correctly (and that is something of an if), one of the comet-dwellers went down to Earth and wound up bringing back a female cave-dweller with him to the comet. She is originally pretty freaked out (I think she even thinks he's a god). I know she also thinks that he is strange because compared to her people he is relatively hairless and (possibly) effeminate. He manages to teach her to interact with his culture, but many of his people look at her as nothing more than an animal.
If I recall correctly, she is eventually impregnated by the comet person. I believe that Bad Things Happen as a result. Part of the issue is that seeing where the Comet People live means she can't integrate with her own culture, but she's also an outcast among the Comet People.
Another thing, which may be helpful, is that one of the secondary characters is named either Brun or Broud. I believe he is one of the cave-dwellers. That stuck in my head because there is a character of the same name in Clan of the Cave Bear, and it made me think of the cave-dwellers as Neanderthals when they may not have been.
I am nigh-positive that this book was from the 1970s, but it could have also been from the late 1960s or early 1980s.
Way back in the day, my grandma had a bunch of science fiction books she'd bought with the cover ripped off at the local drug store. I don't know the title of this book, and I'm not sure I ever did. I read it when I was 8 or 9, and thus much of what I remember is vague. It seemed pretty awesome at the time - but I was 8, so what did I know? I would like to read it again and see what I think of it now.
Basic plot: residents of Earth (I'm pretty sure it's Earth and not just an Earth-like planet) have a very primitive lifestyle - and I THINK they live in caves. This could be either post-apocalyptic or pre-historic; not sure which.
A comet swings by Earth; the residents are humanoids but super-advanced space explorers - possibly originally from Earth.
If I recall correctly (and that is something of an if), one of the comet-dwellers went down to Earth and wound up bringing back a female cave-dweller with him to the comet. She is originally pretty freaked out (I think she even thinks he's a god). I know she also thinks that he is strange because compared to her people he is relatively hairless and (possibly) effeminate. He manages to teach her to interact with his culture, but many of his people look at her as nothing more than an animal.
If I recall correctly, she is eventually impregnated by the comet person. I believe that Bad Things Happen as a result. Part of the issue is that seeing where the Comet People live means she can't integrate with her own culture, but she's also an outcast among the Comet People.
Another thing, which may be helpful, is that one of the secondary characters is named either Brun or Broud. I believe he is one of the cave-dwellers. That stuck in my head because there is a character of the same name in Clan of the Cave Bear, and it made me think of the cave-dwellers as Neanderthals when they may not have been.
I am nigh-positive that this book was from the 1970s, but it could have also been from the late 1960s or early 1980s.
Best answer: (Sudden realisation you could actually be looking for Book 1 or Book 2, so here are links to Watchstar and Eye Of The Comet).
posted by sleepcrime at 2:15 PM on March 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by sleepcrime at 2:15 PM on March 5, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It is Watchstar! OMG, the moment I read the first pages, it all came flooding back to me. And there's a TRILOGY?!? Okay, clearly I need to get my hands on the whole series just so I can find out what happened next.
Thank you! That was way faster and more accurate than I expected given my sketchy description.
posted by rednikki at 3:12 PM on March 5, 2011
Thank you! That was way faster and more accurate than I expected given my sketchy description.
posted by rednikki at 3:12 PM on March 5, 2011
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posted by sleepcrime at 2:09 PM on March 5, 2011